hopingtogo wrote:So I have started looking for apartments and I am feeling a little clueless as to how I should go about this process. I found a really cute apartment that I loved for $600/month. BUT, the rent does not cover utilities. How important is that, considering the cost of heating in the winter? Also, the apartment is about 8 miles away from Cornell (in Lansing?). I will have a car while I am there, but one of my friends told me I should look for something closer nevertheless because of the complications of driving in the winter. Is this true? Is it better to look for something closer to campus?

Thanks for your help in advance!

If it's really 8 miles from the law school it is probably North Lansing and buses run up there much less frequently. I would recommend looking for something closer. I live about 3 miles from the law school, and I like it, but a lot of my friends think its quite far away. I think 8 miles would just be inconvenient and you would get tired of it.

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess I am so used to driving 20 miles to school everyday that I really didn't consider it an issue, but the more I think about it the more uncomfortable I am with the possibility of having to drive through snow storms and the limited access of the bus line in that area. I have started looking for areas closer to the school, but I must say this is such a daunting process! Do housing options really become more limited the longer you wait? Because I was originally planning to wait until June or July to look for housing. I will be living in DC over the summer and I was going to drive up one weekend and spend a couple of days searching for a place. Now I am getting more and more worried as the days go by!

it depends on where you want to live. if you want to live in the area closest to the law school (collegetown) which will be a 2-10 min walk to the law school depending on how far into collegetown you live, i would not recommend waiting until june or july to look for housing. a huge chunk of cornell's undergrad population also lives in collegetown (besides freshmen) so competition for good, affordable places close to campus is pretty high. when i was a freshman at cornell looking for a place to live in collegetown during my sophomore year, my roomies and i went apartment hunting in late november/early december and had a lease signed soon after we got back from winter break in late jan/early feb. this timeframe is pretty typical for people looking to live in c-town. i'm sure that there are still apartments available at this point but the selection will be limited. i'm not sure how much activity there is from now until june or july in terms of people still signing leases but i think the earlier you start looking, the better. i can't speak to how limited the selection is in other areas (like the commons).

So, I have the option of bringing a car (c230) or an suv (explorer). Would it be foolish to bring the car because of the amount of snow? OR because of the amount of snow, Ithaca is always prepared and I wouldn't have too many issues driving it...? I have almost exclusively driven my car for the last three years and would hate to leave it at my moms house...

Sure, why not....except I'm sure where you'd get one from. Occasionally someone will email the listserv asking if anyone has a puter they can borrow, but I've no idea if they've any luck with that. There isn't a place that I know of that loans out puters short term like that.

thesouthside wrote:So, I have the option of bringing a car (c230) or an suv (explorer). Would it be foolish to bring the car because of the amount of snow? OR because of the amount of snow, Ithaca is always prepared and I wouldn't have too many issues driving it...? I have almost exclusively driven my car for the last three years and would hate to leave it at my moms house...

What do you plan on using the car for? Getting to class every day? I mean, if it's just for going to the store and whatnot I don't see why you would need an SUV. You'd be fine without an SUV anyway, but if you're going to depend on it for getting to school I guess it come in handy when the snow first comes down and stuff.

thesouthside wrote:So, I have the option of bringing a car (c230) or an suv (explorer). Would it be foolish to bring the car because of the amount of snow? OR because of the amount of snow, Ithaca is always prepared and I wouldn't have too many issues driving it...? I have almost exclusively driven my car for the last three years and would hate to leave it at my moms house...

What do you plan on using the car for? Getting to class every day? I mean, if it's just for going to the store and whatnot I don't see why you would need an SUV. You'd be fine without an SUV anyway, but if you're going to depend on it for getting to school I guess it come in handy when the snow first comes down and stuff.

Thanks. Yeah, it will be to get to the store and whatnot. Also, I am bringing my dog so when I head home I will likely drive. Thanks again.

man, i wish i could bum around this summer. i graduated from undergrad on sunday and one week from today i start a 40 hour a week job working on a road crew for the pennsylvania D.O.T.

but i will have the last laugh come fall when i can blow my own money on books and rubbish food instead of loan money!

working for a gloriously lazy state road crew gives me plenty of time to read (i basically credit working at PennDOT for my LSAT score last year, thanks to all the studying i was able to do) so i was wondering what the general consensus on 0L summer reading was. from what i've read on these boards, basically don't go crazy with hornbooks and E&E but read general stuff like getting to maybe and law school confidential, yeah?

i'm also wondering about the car thing, as i'd like to have one out there but at the same time i'm planning (well, hoping most likely in vain) to live in hughes. i'd just keep the car around for rare weekend trips and groceries and things like that, i'm wondering if theres a place we can park it on-street a good distance from the campus and its $700/year fees.

CLMoose8 wrote:man, i wish i could bum around this summer. i graduated from undergrad on sunday and one week from today i start a 40 hour a week job working on a road crew for the pennsylvania D.O.T.

but i will have the last laugh come fall when i can blow my own money on books and rubbish food instead of loan money!

working for a gloriously lazy state road crew gives me plenty of time to read (i basically credit working at PennDOT for my LSAT score last year, thanks to all the studying i was able to do) so i was wondering what the general consensus on 0L summer reading was. from what i've read on these boards, basically don't go crazy with hornbooks and E&E but read general stuff like getting to maybe and law school confidential, yeah?

i'm also wondering about the car thing, as i'd like to have one out there but at the same time i'm planning (well, hoping most likely in vain) to live in hughes. i'd just keep the car around for rare weekend trips and groceries and things like that, i'm wondering if theres a place we can park it on-street a good distance from the campus and its $700/year fees.

Definitely do not try to learn substantive law on your own--it will confuse you enough when you have a professor explaining and classmates to confer with.

Also, don't bother with "Getting To Maybe." I've had one professor tell me (and rightly so, I think, after I read it) that such books are simply part of the cottage industry that has sprung up to assuage the neuroses of 1Ls. Professors will tell you what the expect, and most will go over practice exams with you. You can also sometimes get the academic support staff to help you go over practice exams. My legal writing professor this year is going to be the head of the academic support staff next year, and he's highly approachable and a good mentor.

CLMoose8 wrote:man, i wish i could bum around this summer. i graduated from undergrad on sunday and one week from today i start a 40 hour a week job working on a road crew for the pennsylvania D.O.T.

but i will have the last laugh come fall when i can blow my own money on books and rubbish food instead of loan money!

working for a gloriously lazy state road crew gives me plenty of time to read (i basically credit working at PennDOT for my LSAT score last year, thanks to all the studying i was able to do) so i was wondering what the general consensus on 0L summer reading was. from what i've read on these boards, basically don't go crazy with hornbooks and E&E but read general stuff like getting to maybe and law school confidential, yeah?

i'm also wondering about the car thing, as i'd like to have one out there but at the same time i'm planning (well, hoping most likely in vain) to live in hughes. i'd just keep the car around for rare weekend trips and groceries and things like that, i'm wondering if theres a place we can park it on-street a good distance from the campus and its $700/year fees.

Definitely do not try to learn substantive law on your own--it will confuse you enough when you have a professor explaining and classmates to confer with.

Also, don't bother with "Getting To Maybe." I've had one professor tell me (and rightly so, I think, after I read it) that such books are simply part of the cottage industry that has sprung up to assuage the neuroses of 1Ls. Professors will tell you what the expect, and most will go over practice exams with you. You can also sometimes get the academic support staff to help you go over practice exams. My legal writing professor this year is going to be the head of the academic support staff next year, and he's highly approachable and a good mentor.

Agreed. Read GTM if you want and have time, it won't hurt, but it's also not necessary. Most of the info will becomes obvious when you start to take exams.

CLMoose8 wrote:man, i wish i could bum around this summer. i graduated from undergrad on sunday and one week from today i start a 40 hour a week job working on a road crew for the pennsylvania D.O.T.

but i will have the last laugh come fall when i can blow my own money on books and rubbish food instead of loan money!

working for a gloriously lazy state road crew gives me plenty of time to read (i basically credit working at PennDOT for my LSAT score last year, thanks to all the studying i was able to do) so i was wondering what the general consensus on 0L summer reading was. from what i've read on these boards, basically don't go crazy with hornbooks and E&E but read general stuff like getting to maybe and law school confidential, yeah?

i'm also wondering about the car thing, as i'd like to have one out there but at the same time i'm planning (well, hoping most likely in vain) to live in hughes. i'd just keep the car around for rare weekend trips and groceries and things like that, i'm wondering if theres a place we can park it on-street a good distance from the campus and its $700/year fees.

Definitely do not try to learn substantive law on your own--it will confuse you enough when you have a professor explaining and classmates to confer with.

Also, don't bother with "Getting To Maybe." I've had one professor tell me (and rightly so, I think, after I read it) that such books are simply part of the cottage industry that has sprung up to assuage the neuroses of 1Ls. Professors will tell you what the expect, and most will go over practice exams with you. You can also sometimes get the academic support staff to help you go over practice exams. My legal writing professor this year is going to be the head of the academic support staff next year, and he's highly approachable and a good mentor.

I agree as well. I did not do one thing to prep for law school and I do not regret that decision at all.

For the car-- the problem with parking is that it is very limited during the winter since a lot of street parking becomes unavailable since they have to plow the snow into those spots.

But, I would still recommend bringing one even if you have to pay for a campus spot. It will save you enough time getting groceries, etc that its nice to have.